Easy Table Decor

I had a really hard time this year decorating my dining room table for Christmas. I have done really cute things in the past. The truth of it is, I was a little tired of my decorations, and I am trying to keep things simple, since our house is on the market.


Rather than spending a fortune on new decorations that I didn't love, I decided to use gold and silver ornaments and garland from the dollar store to add a shimmery touch to the table. I bought about 8 sets of 7-12 ornaments in silver and gold, including some with glitter to give a little sparkle.

First, I draped one length of garland around the chandelier. Before:

After, with a little more shimmer:

Then, I used some ornament hooks to add ornaments to hang from the bottom of the garland.

Next, I pulled out several vintage brass and silver pieces for the table centerpiece to hold the rest of the ornaments, but decided on my antique Candlewick glassware, since I love how the round ornaments mimic the glass beading on the edges of the Candlewick.

I first set the table using a red herringbone Ralph Lauren table cloth from HomeGoods (I think it was $10 when I bought it two years ago), and a gold-ish geometric table runner that I believe is Thomas O'Brien for Target, purchased many many years ago. I like that it is a little muted, and I actually use this runner throughout the year. 

I pulled out the Candlewick cake stand, 4 footed fluted bowl, and small bowl to use for the ornaments. I just kind of piled the larger ones on the cake stand, the medium and small ones in the two bowls, and tried to keep an even mix of silver and gold ornaments.

I also added red taper candles to my Candlewick candlesticks, just to complete the table. 

Here's how it all looks together:

I love how it is simple but festive, and I love using my Candlewick this time of the year, since my grandmother always used the set for our entire family for Christmas dinner. After they stopped hosting Christmas, all three of the granddaughters got to split up the set, so I now have place settings, glasses, and serving ware for 8+. What a lucky girl I am!

What are some of your favorite decorations?

Zucchini Bread

This zucchini bread, as seen yesterday, was a recipe that my college roommate's mom used to make for us, and although I don't like zucchini on a regular basis, I am in love with this bread. It also makes a great recipe to give in mini loaf pans to neighbors and friends for the holidays. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (usually 2 medium sized zucchinis)
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking poweder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grate the two medium sized zucchini. I used the larger side of my grater this time to make things easier, but if you are hesitant about the flavor, use a smaller grater.

Here is about 2 cups of grated zucchini. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, zucchini, oil, and vanilla. After mixed well, add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Pour mixture into two regular loaf pans, or 5-6 mini loaf pans. Since I only have one loaf pan, I used a small cake pan for the second half of the mixture. Be sure to grease the pans well.  

Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Use a toothpick to check the doneness, and remove from oven when toothpick comes out clean.

Here is the golden round bread loaf. My husband ate a piece out of the loaf pan before I could take a picture of that.

I took this plate of yummy treats over to a dinner party. I actually love how the zucchini bread looks in pie shaped slices on the plate. I may just make it in the round pans from now on! The other treats are the No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars from yesterday;s post. 

If you are really feeling fancy, you could top the zucchini bread with a cream cheese frosting, or serve it warm with a side of vanilla bean ice cream. I prefer it for breakfast warmed in the microwave with a little butter. Enjoy!

No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

I don't know if it is the holiday spirit, or something else, but nowadays, when I hear about something yummy, I just get a craving for it until I make it or buy it! My friend Janet mentioned the special Peppermint Oreos the other day, and I have to confess that I searched Target for 30 minutes on Saturday looking for them. I finally found them, and as I had remembered them from years past, they were totally worth the hunt!

Last week, via Urban Grace Interiors blog, I found the No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars from Left On Amelia's blog, and decided to try them this past weekend.  I had most of the ingredients on hand, with the exception of the Coconut Oil, which was expensive at $14.99 a jar, but totally worth it for the recipe! Here is the recipe and the step by step how to:

Ingredients:
1 cup Almond Butter (I had the MaraNatha crunchy on hand - my favorite!)
2/3 cup honey (I used some local honey given to us by a co-worker)
1/2 cup Coconut Butter (I used Coconut Oil since my store was out of butter)
2 cups Toasted Oats (I had John McCann Stone Ground Oatmeal on hand, but the original recipe calls for whole oats)
1 bag Dark Chocolate Chips
1 cup dried cranberries (I had Craisins on hand, but sugar-free dried cranberries from a health food store would make this a healthier recipe)

First, in a 9" x 13" baking sheet, spread out the oats and toast until golden (not burned). I turned the oven to 350 degrees and toasted for about 10-15 minutes. 

In a medium or large saucepan, combine the honey, almond butter, and coconut oil over medium heat. Stir frequently as it heats up.

Once it is blended, reduce heat to low or simmer and add the dark chocolate chips and cranberries. The original recipe said to remove from heat, but since I had the larger chocolate chips, I found them easier to melt over a little heat.  Stir frequently.

Once all is melted and stirred together, turn off the stove. Make sure the only lumps are the cranberries. 

 Once the oats are nice and toasted, dump them into the chocolate mixture.

 Stir in the oats until evenly blended.

In the same baking sheet you used to toast the oats, cover it with parchment or wax paper (I used wax paper since I was out of parchment).  Pour in the chocolate oat mixture and spread with a spatula so that it is evenly distributed throughout the pan.

Refrigerate for a few hours. I left mine in for an entire day. The pan will be warm from the mixture, so be sure to use some potholders underneath. 

 Here is the finished product, still in the pan:

And here is the result after cutting into squares. So delicious and easy, I may have to make these more often! Thanks again to Left on Amelia for this recipe!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post for the recipe for Zucchini bread (pictured in wedges above). Enjoy!

Hard To Buy For? Be WANTFUL

I received an e-mail today with a great new site/idea. It is WANTFUL... a site that lets you customize a gift selection for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life.

You give them a little general information about your boss, friend or loved one, and they select 16 gifts in the price range of your choice. Don't like all 16 items they chose? Simply swap out the ones you don't think your recipient will like with some other choices they have selected for you. Once you are happy with your 16 items, simply pay for the gift, plus shipping and handling, and the WANTFUL people publish a book with the gift selection to be sent to you (to wrap yourself) or to your recipient directly. Once they receive their book, they flip through the book and choose which gift they want, and WANTFUL ships it to them free of charge. It is the surefire way to get them something they will truly love and appreciate!

I think it's genius, and not only is it perfect for bosses or hard-to-buy-for friends this Christmas, but you can send them for any occasion throughout the year as well! This may just be my go-to gift giving spot!

This post was not paid for or sponsored by WANTFUL. I just think it is genius and wanted to share.

Elfster

It is December 1, which means there are only 24 more days until Christmas. It also means that there are only 3 more weekends of errands and shopping, since Christmas kind of screws everything up this year on a weekend.

This year, our family is deciding to pick names for a Secret Santa gift exchange, instead of buying each person (12 in all) a gift. There are a couple of great sites out there, like Boogspace, that have been around for a while that are easy to use for randomly selecting names. I came across a new one the other day, Elfster, that also is super easy to use, and certainly helps you get into the Christmas spirit.

You can set spending limits, dates of gift exchange, and set your wishlist, all in one spot! How easy is that?!  One less thing on my Christmas to do list...

And just for fun, I love to "Elf Myself" every year, courtesy of JibJab and OfficeMax. Check out my video here for a good laugh. To elf yourself or your friends, go to www.elfyourself.com.

This post was not sponsored by or promoted by Elfster, Boogspace, JibJab, or OfficeMax. I just really like these sites and wanted to share!

Is Christmas TOMORROW?!

Tomorrow is December. Can you believe it? It has been a couple of super busy months, and I have been completely behind on the blog and posting the projects I have been working on. Life sometimes gets complicated. I do have a few really exciting projects that I am just putting the final touches on, so I will share them soon. I will also be sharing some holiday projects, sites, bargains, and decor, both old and new, in the next 25 days until Christmas.

So that you don't miss out on any fun holiday posts, be sure to subscribe to the blog via the menu on the right hand side. Simply type in your e-mail, and all my posts will be delivered directly to your e-mail. Easy Peasy!

Impromptu Dinner Party

Last night we had our families over for dinner, and for the first time in the 4 years we have been in our house, we decided to do dinner outside. I have always wanted to have a beautiful dinner party on our patio, but in Florida, 90% of the time, the nights are humid and buggy. But last night was a perfect night and we had many reasons to be thankful to all be together.


With an hour to set up, I first brought out our two 6' folding tables, that we got at a Black Friday deal last year for $29 each, and our 8 folding chairs that we use ALL THE TIME for various get togethers.  To round out the seating for our 11 guests, we used our wicker bench (found for free in an alley behind our house) and our desk chair with pillow.

Next, I covered the tables with two green Ralph Lauren tablecloths that I bought at HomeGoods 6 years ago for $7 each. They are used pretty much every Christmas (I now have red ones too!) and every holiday in between. Green is actually a neutral color, so they go with everything and every occasion! Don't judge me, the hostess did not have time to iron them. But in an hours time, most of the wrinkles had fallen out, and because it got dark before guests arrived, I didn't worry about it. Typically, I would iron them, or wash them and take them straight out of the dryer. Quick Tip: If in a pinch, use some Downy Wrinkle Releaser on them as they lay on the table and smooth some of the wrinkles out with your hand.


The napkins I bought on super clearance years ago too at Bed Bath and Beyond. They are a brown polished cotton, and I got all 12 for $6 (thats 50 cents each!).  The flatware is a special fun set that I bring out occasionally from Neiman Marcus. I purchased it on sale, but even at regular price it is a good deal for 12 placesettings ($105!).

The stick table runner is a few years old from Plum Party, but you can find a similar one here or here. Sicne it gets dark right around 6pm when we were having people over, I decided to light up the table with lots of candles. My husband thought it was a little too romantic for what we needed, as we were only cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, but I still loved it. I gathered all the glass Waterford and antique bowls that I never used, and several little glass candle holders and filled them with water and floating candles from IKEA, and citronella tea lights from Pier 1. The 'D' pewter napkin rings were from our wedding registry at Williams Sonoma, and match our everyday flatware, also from our registry.

As the sun was setting, we turned on the globe twinkle lights around our yard (which are up all year), and started a lovely dinner. I think it came out pretty perfect for being thrown together in an hour.

 

Check back this week for a few last minute tips for Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Week!

Free Clothing

You did not read the headline wrong! Sears Outlet is offering one piece of FREE clothing, including items from their LLBean line, to its Shop Your Way Rewards members every TUESDAY from now until the end of the year- no purchase necessary! To become a member, just click here, enter your e-mail address, and go shop! Or, just sign up at the Sears Outlet store near you.

Be sure that the Sears Outlet near you has clothing... for all you readers in Tampa Bay, Florida, the store at 5251 110th Avenue North (off US Highway 19) in Pinellas Park is the place to go! The offer does not apply to outerwear (like coats) or leather (belts/shoes), but to everything else. Some savvy shoppers found L.L.Bean cashmere sweaters for $99 that they got for free!

I went in yesterday (Tuesday) with my Rewards card, and walked out with a pretty jersey dress that would look super cute with boots or leggings.

 The original price:

Receipt after my Rewards card was scanned:

I know this is CRAZY to be giving away a free article of clothing, but if you look around at all the deals they have, most clothing is $4, $5, and $7 anyway, so you really should be buying more than one item! If you find two shirts for $5 each, with one free from your Rewards card, it really comes out to $2.50 a shirt, or Buy One Get One Free. I just had about 2 minutes and was testing out the program, so I didn't have time to look for anything else. But I am going back every week to get something else and look for more Christmas presents too! My husband said that he is going to do it with some co-workers who are adopting a family for the holidays, because their money will go further to buy clothing for all the family. Be sure to check out the selection in your area every TUESDAY... maybe I will see you there!

Sears and Sears Outlet did not pay me or compensate me for this review. I guess they did give me free clothes, but it is available to everyone, and I am just spreading the word!

Holiday Deals and Steals Links

It is November 4, which means that the holiday season is rapidly approaching, and so are the ideas about what to buy for all my relatives and friends for the holidays.

shopping list from Jones Design Company (click image to download)

I am a pretty thrifty person... I buy party supplies at the Dollar Store, and groceries from WalMart (with coupons!). But, when it comes to this time of year, my bank account feels the pinch... My husband is one of 5 kids, and between his  siblings and their significant others, parents, grandmothers, work colleagues, best friends, and my own family, we have a ton of people to buy for. Even if the gifts were $20 each (which they are not!), we are still looking at a couple hundred bucks of gifts. Which is also why we usually never get each other anything big.

Since most people are feeling the pinch this year more than ever, I have put together a list of websites for Deals and Steals. I can say that just in the last week, I have crossed off 5 people from my Christmas list because I got them gifts on sale or by some fabulous one-day deal. I am already feeling a little less pressured this year!

Here are some of my favorite sites for daily deals, coupons, and more!

Daily Deals and Coupons:

Hip2Save  www.hip2save.com
DealSea www.dealsea.com
SlickDeals www.slickdeals.net
DealNews www.dealnews.com
DealSucker www.dealsucker.com

For One Day, One Item Steals:

Daily Deals  www.dailydeals.com
Daily Seals www.dailysteals.com
Woot www.woot.com
Deal Genius www.dealgenius.com

Deals Sent To Your Email Inbox:

Groupon  http://www.groupon.com/r/uu525222
Daily Deals http://dailydeals.com
Half Off Depot https://halfoffdepot.com/tampabay/referafriend/?bl=bmF0YWxpZWJhdW1hbkBhb2wuY29t
Ever Save http://eversave.com/share/zXWI
Zulily http://www.zulily.com/invite/nataliebauman905
Mamasource by Mamapedia www.deals.mamapedia.com
Schwaggle www.schwaggle.active.com
Living Social https://livingsocial.com/redeem_invite/7075920-natali?ref=lnk

Every Tuesday:

Today Show's Jill's Steals & Deals - most of these sell out, so check them in the morning on Tuesdays.  http://hip2save.com/category/jills-steals-deals

For a List of Black Friday Ads:

A Full Cup  (click here)

For Travel Sites:

SniqueAway http://www.sniqueaway.com/invite/ForeverTheHostess Tablet Hotels  http://www.tablethotels.com/invite/dslIGj969Do Groupon Getaways   http://www.groupon.com/r/uu525222  For Site Specific Gifts (Wine, Fashion, Home, Etc):Invino http://www.invino.com/signup/?invite=72132e5765b08803508e3b57eb3d1cdebfb15d78Lot18 http://www.lot18.com/i/ForeverTheHostessHauteLook  http://www.hautelook.com/short/29gxkGilt Groupe  http://www.gilt.com/invite/nbaumanIdeeli  www.ideeli.com/invite/ForeverTheHostessRueLaLa http://www.ruelala.com/invite/4evrthehostess The OutNet www.theoutnet.comSwirl by Daily Candy  http://www.swirl.com/invite/ForeverTheHostessBeyond The Rack http://www.beyondtherack.com/member/invite/NNB3C08695CMy Habit  http://www.myhabit.com/ref=qd_ie_accept_gJoss & Main  http://www.jossandmain.com/invite/foreverthehostessOne Kings Lane  https://www.onekingslane.com/invite/NatalieDevicente  And another great email subscription is to the Jones Design Company, who is providing free and adorable downloads through the Holiday Season, like the shopping list pictured above. Emily designs her own cards, invitations, and so much more. I even bought her font to use on future invitations!  I encourage you to check her out!  Disclosure: I was not paid to promote any of these websites. I just wanted to give them as reference to other thrifty shoppers like me!

I Can't Believe Its November....

...but at least I ended October like a Lady.

Lady Gaga, that is.

I am sooooo not a blonde.

So it is November 1, and my mother is already asking me for my Christmas list. Here are a few things that I have lusted after for a while.

I am in love with this bag from Zara:

I have always wanted this Pet's Eye View Camera for the dog, just to see what she gets into when we are not looking, but its just a little pricey:

And this gift just seems like a no brainer for me... the Baker's Edge Brownie Pan:

This Emerald horn bracelet from Furbish:

 And this Orange Chevron Throw, also from Furbish:

And if you haven't seen Furbish Studio or Jamie's funny and awesome bog, check it out here. 

I'm sure there will be plenty more things on my list this year... I just have to sit down and really think about what I want. What is on your list this year???

Happy November!